Apparatus for settling slag.



PATENTED JULY 18, 1905.

H. V. PEARCE.

APPARATUS FOR SETTLING SLAG.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 10. 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

, PATBNTED JULY 18,1905.

H. v. PEARCE.

APPARATUS FOR SETTLING SLAG.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 10, 1903.

2 SHEETS-$111131 2.

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NrrEn STATES Patented July 18, 1905.

. HAROLD V. PEARCE, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

APPARATUS FOR SETTLING s LAe...

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.'795,163, dated July is, 1905. Applicatienfiled June 10, 1903. Serial No. 160,899.

To Ir-Z7 arr/1.0111 it 771/007, concern:

Be it known that l, HAROLD V. PEARCE, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Denver. in the county of Arapahoe and State of Colorado, have in venteda certain new and useful Improvement in Apparatus 'for Settling Slag, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of this invention is to provide for the separation orrecovery of metallic copper or matte from the slag of smelting-furnaces in an operation that is practically continuous of the smelting operation and while the: slag is stillfluid.

The slag whilehot and still fluid is run into a vessel which may be by reason of its function and operation called a settler and in which the particles of matte or metal carried in the slag are permitted to separate by gravityfrom the slag and accumulate in a pocket specially provided therefor and from which such separated matter may be separately removed or recovered, the slag being discharged independently. This operation may be accomplished without the aid of an oxidizing flame or blast or other extraneous heat and simply by permitting gravitation to act while the slag is in a fluid condition. An apparatus suitable for this purpose consists of a cylinder having a refractory lining and an adit and a separate exit for the fluid slag and an independent collecting and discharging pocket wherein the metal is deposited and from which it is recoverable. The vessel is mounted so as to be capable of being oscillated in the performance of its functions, and it is designed to be used without the employment of any heat other than the heat of the fluid slag, although it might be advisable to heat up the vessel before the initial charge of slag.in order to prevent sudden cooling or chilling of the slag.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating the invention, in theseveral figures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure l is a side elevation of the apparatus including one form of mechanism for oscillating it. Fig. 2 is a top plan view including another form of oscillating mechanism. Fig. 3 is a rear elevation including a third form of oscillating i mechanism.

1 poses.

Fig. 4 isalongitudinal section illustratingvarious positions given to the v-cssel in the practice of the invention. The vessel 1 preferably is constructed of a cylindrical shell 2, ofmetal, and ,hasa bottom 3 secured thereto bylclamping-bandsi i, united by bolts 5 or otherwise in a removable manner, so that the bottom may be. .detached at pleasure in order to gain access'to the interior of the vesselfor repairs and other pur- This bottom is provided with a spent 6 adjacent to an exit or tap-hole 7. The opposite end or nose 8 of the vessel is formed of convergent lower and side walls anda top wall, meeting in an adit-9. The vessel isl-ined fwith' fire-brick or other refractorymaterial or substance, and particularly srl'ich substance as is capable of retaining heat... TllflAf-GSSBl is supplied with tru nnions 10, which are mount-,-

ed in bearings 11- on standards 12.- The trunk nions 10 may be applied to or may'beiintegr'al withan encircling band-=13 made vin"'.h'alves bolted or otherwise ,united. This band-is..pref erably of somewhat larger diameter on the inside than the diametenof theshell, so as to be free of the rivets in the shell, and is mounted upon this shell through the interposition of spacing-blocks and is secured to the shell by means of lugs 14, to which it is bolted, the lugs in turn being riveted to the shell. The lugs 14L are secured to theshell some distance from the band so as to leave a considerable space between the lugs and the sides of the band in order that the band may beadjusted, and with it the trunnions, thereby to shift the center of motion as near as desired to the center of gravity. As shown, the spaces between the lugs and the band may be taken up by filler-blocks 15.

One side of the vessel is provided with an outwardly-projecting or offset conical pocket or chamber 16, having an exit or tap-hole 17. A flanged collar 18 may be arranged about the pocket in order to reinforce its connection with the shell of the vessel. This pocket is the collecting device herein referred to.

Any suitable means may be used for oscillating or tilting the vessel, and in Fig. 1-1 have shown a worm 19 engaging a wormwheel 20, the worm being actuated by a handwheel 21. -In 2 the WORTH 19 is driven by a crank-shaft'QQ with interposed beveledgear connections of usual construction. (Not shown.) In Fig. 3 the worm 19 isconnected by beveled gears 23 with a power-shaft 24, or any other mechanism operated by hand or power may be used for tilting or oscillating the vessel upon its trunnions.

'lhe slag to be settled in accordance with this invention is skimmed into the vessel 1 through the adit 9 and allowed to stand for a while and so long as it remains fluid, with the result that the metal or matte separates from the slag by gravity and accumulates eventually in the pocket 16. A

When the furnace is being skimmed of slag, the position ofthe settler or vessel 1 is as shown in dotted lines A, Fig. 1, or at about an inclination of, say, twenty degrees, so that thenose or adit end is low enough to receive the flowing slag by a spout. If, however, the settler is placed low enough, of course a horizontal position, as shown in full lines, is sufficient. As the slag Hows into the settler much of the matte willsettle in the chamber 16. When the skimming is finished, the settler is turned to the position shown in Fig. 1 and also shown in, 'FigL 4 by dotted lines B or at about an upward inclination of, say, twentyfour degrees. The matte still in the slag will settle in the lo'werend of the vessel 1. When suflicient time has elapsed for such settling, the vessel is again turned to the position A, Fig. 4., with'theinose down, and the previ ously-settled matte in the vessel then flows under the slag into the pocket 16, joining that already eaught' there. The vessel is again turned into' 'tl'ie position of Fig. l with the nose up and g t ille slag tapped off through the tap-hole 7 into any convenient vessel by which it may be re'i'iiov led, after which the matte accumulated in" the pocket 16 is tapped into a pot on wheels or any other suitable receptacle,

and any overlaying slag is run into another receptacle, and the vessel is then ready to receive another charge.

The drawings do not fully show the details of construction; but they do indicate them sufficiently to illustrate the principle of the invention and to enable any one skilled in the art to carry out the invention.

I am aware that prior to my invention in the metallurgy of copper and iron a vessel substantially like a Bessemer converter has been constructed with a mixing-pocket or a catch-basin for the metal which is to be therein treated in connection with an oxidizing blast; but so far as .1 am aware it has not hitherto been attempted to recover by gravity from the slag of a smelting-furnace the metal or matte carried by it by means of a vessel having a collecting-pocket into which the settled or separated metal is introduced by oscillation of the vessel and while the slag is fluid and without extraneous heat.

What I claim is- A heat-retaining vessel mounted on trunnions and having at one end a bottom provided with a tap-hole, and having at its other end a nose formed with convergent side and lower walls and a top wall provided with an adit, a conical pocket arranged below the nose and having a tap-hole, and means to oscillate the vessel, whereby fluid slag n'iay be treated by gravitation and the metal or matte therein separated and collected in the pocket and thence withdrawn through the tap hole therein and the slag withdrawn through the taphole in the bottom of the vessel.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 5th day of June, A. D. 1903.

HAROLD v. PEARCE.

\Vitnesses: V

FRANK VREYNOLDS, J RSS1!) l). HALE. 

